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3 Scaling up HIV Testing for a Global Response to HIV/AIDS David Miller World Hlth Org, Geneva, Switzerland |
The scaling up of ARV requires a radical increase of access to testing and counselling (T&C) in resource-poor settings. Current estimates of coverage (some estimates suggest less than 10% of those with HIV know they have it) are extremely worrying, as T&C services are currently unable to provide T&C to most populations who would presently benefit from it. This requires significant re-thinking of the processes for T&C that incorporate the public health imperative for greater access while ensuring that access is both equitable and testing is human-rights based. In particular, the importance of making the offer of an HIV test routine in clinical settings is clear. Additionally, scaling up access to T&C requires massive structural strengthening to ensure that quality of testing processes is maintained, through appropriate training and supervision and other quality-assurance processes, and post-test services are able to provide necessary follow-up. This presentation will provide field-based data and experiences informing the scaling up of T&C on a global scale, address some of the key challenges to these processes, and describe the WHO approach to increasing access to T&C services.
